Author Interview: Rainbow Rowell

It’s almost YALLFest time, celebrating all things YA and authors and readers and everything in between. To help celebrate, The Hodgenator is hosting author interviews.

The Hodgenator welcomes Rainbow Rowell to the blog.

Random fact: I love, love, love her novel ‘Eleanor & Park’—if you’ve not yet read it, you need to ASAP.

 

What one thing do you need to have when you write?

Lip balm.

 

Describe your book in 5 words.

‘FANGIRL’ - Earnest, snowy, swoony, minty, bookish.

 

What is the hardest line to write- the first or the last?

THE FIRST! The whole first page is a nightmare. I want people to just skip it. And I always end up rewriting it.

 

Best writing tip you ever received?

“Just finish your book.”

 

What one young adult novel do you wish you had when you were a teen? Why?

Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt. I think it would have made me feel less alone.

 

Where's your favorite place to write?

At coffeeshops. In giant overstuffed chairs.

 

What are you working on now?

I’m revising my adult novel, Landline, which comes out in spring 2014, and playing with a romantic/political/tragicomic fantasy.

What is your favorite genre to write in? To Read?

I write mostly contemporary. I read mostly fantasy.

 

At what point in the development of an idea do you know that it will become a full-length novel?

All of my ideas are full-length novels. I have a hard time narrowing my scope.
 

Is anyone else squeeing about the awesomeness that is Rowell?

How awesome does this book sound? A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love. (from Goodreads). I haven’t had a chance to read ‘Fangirl’ yet, but it is at the top of my list.

To find out more about Rowell or her writing, visit her blog. You can also find her on her Goodreads page, her Facebook fan page, and on Twitter @rainbowrowell.

 

Happy Reading!

- The Hodgenator